Direct Payments and Personal Budgets

What is a Direct Payment?

Direct payments are ideal if you would like to take control of your support service instead of having it arranged for you. You can only apply if you have been assessed by Adult Social Care as needing care and support services.

Direct payments can be made to –

disabled people aged 16 or over (with short or long term needs)
disabled parents for children’s services
carers aged 16 or over (including people with parental responsibility for a disabled child)
elderly people who need community care services

You can choose to take all, or part of your personal budget to manage for yourself. This gives you the opportunity to arrange your own care and support.

The money you choose to use from your personal budget is called a direct payment.

Direct payments give you a greater choice and control over your life. You decide who is going to give the support you.

You can use your direct payment however you wish, as long as it achieves the outcomes agreed in your support plan and helps you to live independently and safely.

Your support worker agrees how your direct payments are meeting your needs in your support plan.

Find out more about support plans here

Managing your direct payments

Adult Social Care put an agreed amount of money into your account every four weeks. This is to cover the costs within your agreed support plan. The bank account has to be in your name unless you have nominated someone else to manage your account then the account can be in their names.

You need a bank account for your direct payment. This account should only be used for your direct payments and your contributions. If you have difficulty opening a bank account either in your name or with someone you have nominated let your support worker know.

How you can use direct payments

You can use direct payments to –

employ and agency worker
employ a personal Assistant (PA)
a mixture of choosing an agency, using a PA or paying for services organised by Hull Adult Social Care.

Your worker can also tell you about other services and organisations that can help you to manage your direct payments. The guide for direct payments gives you more information about direct payments for you to consider.

A Guide to Direct Payments (PDF)

There are many agency workers in Hull you could choose to use. You may have identified the one you want at the support planning stage. You need to agree a start date with them and let your support worker know.

It is important that you discuss with the agency what you want from their staff and how you want them to treat you.

Go to our Home support page for information on Homecare agencies

If you do not know which agency you wish to use and would like further information about agencies, please contact the Hull City Council on 01482 300 300.

Choices and Rights have a direct payment support scheme for disabled people and another for families of disabled children. Both of these schemes are currently funded on a service level agreement with Hull City Council.

As part of the direct payment support scheme, Choices and Rights have developed and manage a database of potential PA’s. There are approximately 1,300 potential PA’s on the database that have already been reference checked.

Your social worker can put you in contact with Choices and Rights as you may need their support to employ a PA. They can help you find a PA if you don’t already have someone in mind as well as advise you on what you need to do as an employer.

Be clear with your PA what you want them to do for you. You are the best person to let them know how you want them to support you - this is where your support plan is helpful.

Access the Choices and Rights PA database here (Opens in a new window)

Alternatively, you can contact them on -

email them at office@choicesandrights.org.uk (Opens in a new window)
telephone - 01482 878 778
textphone 01482 370 986.

Employing someone you know

You can employ a friend or a member of your family as long as they do not live in the same house as you. The Choices and Rights worker helps you to set up their employment.

We strongly advise you to have the person you are employing complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check but you may not want to do this if you know the person very well.

Insurance

The Choices and Rights support worker helps you set up the insurance you need as an employer. You cannot start any employment until the insurance is in place.

Paying your personal assistant - Hull CVS

Hull Community and Voluntary Services (CVS) is contracted by Hull City Council to provide a payroll service to individuals who receive a direct payment for their care needs from Hull City Council.

Hull CVS will support you with a payroll service and send you a regular payslip for your personal assistant. You need to give this to your personal assistant.

You should inform CVS of the hours your personal assistant has worked, including any bank holidays, if they have been sick or taken any annual leave.

Inland Revenue.

Hull CVS also send you an advice letter regarding Inland Revenue. This letter is important as it tells you how much money needs to be paid to the Inland Revenue.

You need to write a cheque to the Inland Revenue for the amount that Hull CVS have worked out for you. You then need to send this cheque back to the Hull CVS who handle all your Inland Revenue business.

You must keep all the paperwork you get from CVS and any bank statements and cheque book stubs. Hull CVS also send you payslips which you must give to your personal assistant.

You can contact Hull CVS Payroll team on -

email at payroll@hull-cvs.co.uk (Opens in a new window) .
telephone on 01482 324 474.

You can have a combination of services to provide your care. This includes choosing from an agency, employing a PA or services organised by social care services at the council. You can use your direct payment to pay towards these services.

Sometime it takes time to set up a personal assistant. You can choose to use an agency at the beginning of your support plan and then end their contract once you have a personal assistant available.

Make sure your support worker knows what you are doing as you need to keep within your agreed budget.

You must make sure that you are spending your budget in accordance with your support plan. To help you Hull City Council write to you six months after you receive your first direct payment. They request that you submit your financial information and regular reviews are carried out every six to 12 months.

You must submit the following financial paperwork within 28 days of the letter request -

bank statements
Hull CVS payroll summary sheets (if applicable)
care provider invoices
receipts for any other agreed expenditure
copy of your employers liability insurance (any originals are sent back)

These documents can be submitted as follows –

post - FREEPOST RSJC-KKBE-ABXZ, Fairer Charging, Hull City Council, PO Box 15, Hull, HU1 2AB
email - personalbudgetfinance@hullcc.gov.uk (Opens in a new window)
fax - 01482 613 562
in person - Wilson Centre - please address any hand delivered envelopes to Fairer Charging, Treasury Building, and ask for a receipt upon delivery.

Previous Deferred Payment Scheme Next Money Management

Last updated: 2018/11/24